Westerners drop season finale to Holyoke, finish fourth in Western division to earn playoff berth

Published
12:00 am EDT, Tuesday, August 2, 2011

The Danbury Westerners entered Monday with nothing to lose and little to gain, their place in the NECBL playoffs assured some time ago by a second-half surge. A potential playoff opponent ended the suspense early.

The Holyoke Blue Sox shelled the Westerners 9-3 in the regular season finale for both teams Monday night in Holyoke, Mass., keeping the Westerners (25-17) locked in the fourth and final Western division playoff spot with the postseason set to begin later this week.

Danbury lefty Scott DeCecco surrendered four runs on nine hits in four innings of work and took the loss. Mike Augliera gave up four more runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief.

Westerners slugger Tyler Horan was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Kyle Convissar (2-for-4) and Andrew Garner (1-for-3) drove in runs for Danbury. Both have battled nagging injuries in the second half of the season.

Holyoke pounded 17 hits off five Danbury pitchers to improve to 28-14, good for the best record in the West. Only the Eastern division-topping Newport Gulls have been better at 29-13.